I'm So Hip... I Ship!

I really loved the shipping department. I'm more able to synthesize my previous rotations, and even the few days that I covered Lucy in Accounts Payable. I definitely got a good introduction to how Billing and Scheduling works in this department. And I felt like the work I got to do, shipping and receiving jobs, paper etc. was critical to our scheduling, as well as our customer satisfaction.

Here is a bullet point summary of what I was able to familiarize myself these past two weeks:

• ordering Shipping supplies (monthly)
• Fed Ex
  
• UPS
• Pioneer Express
• Echo (a brief introduction)
• 3rd Party Shipping
  
• Recycling/Garbage schedule (aluminum plates recycled first day of the month)
  
• International Paper Co. (our new recycling company)
• shipping products and schematics (dummies) to vendors i.e. Apex Die
• receiving paper (check for quantity, type, weight, color, size)! *this was enjoyable, because I made friends with our regular delivery guys
  
• PSI - largely in house (use for vendors and receiving orders)
• Filemaker Pro - use for client shipments and packing slips
  
• making packing slips, job tags, and box labels
  
• on the accounting side: the flow of Purchase Orders
• will call
• Print Broker paper shipments
• departmental organization and vigilance
• Chemical waste count needs to be kept down or else we could incur a fine...certain amounts are very dangerous. Shipping/Plant Manager order pick-ups.
  
• LTL - less than truck load
• Hot Shot - expedited direct shipping (no other stops)
  
• TL - 16 skids and approx. 16,000 lbs.
• Class 70 - printed material
  

PINC, Press & Shipping - Oh My!!!

PINC Trade Show, April/May '09

I have returned from my blogging hiatus. What a "moveable type of life" it has been these past two months, indeed. Herman, Ian, and I combined our Associate powers for the entire month of April in preparation for the Printing Industries of Northern California trade show on May 1st. I employed my English degree to do the copy writing, both for the trade show materials and the new Watermark Press Website Ian and I have been updating. I must say, Ian, with his graphic design sensibilities, Herman, with his Photoshop prowess, and me, with my loose background in Marketing/PR (and my general affinity for event planning)...we made a fine team. We camped out in the Conference Room for four weeks, planning, designing, and re-designing our 8 foot by 8 foot canvas banners. The Sales Team and Pre-Press were especially helpful in the construction of the banners, offering constructive criticism and technical guidance, respectively. And of course there's our Associate mentor, Matt, a graduate of the LDP Associate program, who is always generous with support and guidance. We also couldn't have done it without Tom, Rick (sales) and our friend Tuan at sister company Anderson Printing in Los Angeles.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO ASSOCIATES AT OTHER SHOPS WHO CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS TO OUR "DIGITAL FLEET" CGX MAP!

All in all, it was a huge success. We had our local Whole Foods cater a cheese and bread platter, and we served wine in eco-friendly, compostable cups thanks to the Rainbow Grocery. Jolt and Bolt around the corner baked us classy cookies, making our booth a huge hit. And if I do say so myself, the banners were beautiful. We boasted the CGX Digital Print Network, CGX Solutions, and last but not least, Watermark Press.

Watermark created quite the buzz that day. At the trade show, we showed off some shiny new PINC printing awards, and our sustainability initiatives. We networked, played Wii golf, and ate chocolate covered strawberries, among other things. Some of our Bay Area sister companies and fellow associates were in attendance: Eagle Press, American Litho -Hayward, and Pacific Standard Press, formerly American Litho - Sacramento.

I learned what's out there in the printing world, and realized...I'm really starting to feel like part of it, now. I even experienced 15 seconds of fame when I was interviewed for PINC TV. I flexed some Watermark muscle, and got ready to return to the press, prouder than ever.


Press Princess Joins the Ranks of the Finest Pressmen ...

I go through all my rotations like a journalist, pen and notebook in hand, always. I ask a ridiculous amount of questions, but that's just how I learn. I need to take copious notes, and do the hands-on-learn-by-doing thing Ian is such a fan of. At first the guys wanted to keep my whites white, and my hands clean. I felt like their Press Princess. I got to push some buttons during my earlier press days, but by the end of it, I was hanging with the best of them. By the time I got to my 2nd shift rotation, I was taking ink off the presses during the wash up with my bare hands. Muhahaha! Okay...I made up the part about my bare hands. But I really did help clean the presses, and I got a good sense of the hard work these guys do for our clients. We care about the details. Our quality control is fantastic. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside, even during long, late night press checks that see the CMYK channels re-mixed many times before we reach the ultimate goal: our clients' satisfaction. Tony, Pavel, Julio, Sam, Craig, David, Juan, and Antonio - they taught me what our Pressman go through on a daily basis, from routine maintenance and wash-ups, to the unique trouble shooting they do from job to job. I'll re-visit some of the technical aspects later after my Press closing.

Hana, Super Shipper in Training: Hot-Shot, Expedited Learning

I've finished week one of two in the Shipping Department, and this is truly a fast-paced domain full of surprises. It tests your multi-tasking aptitude, as well as your sense of prioritization. I like it. I get to check in-coming shipments, prep out-going shipments, and hang out with Chef Larry Minetti - Shipping Manager by day, Culinary Artist by night. I keep pretty busy these days, and it feels gooooood.

Bindery Stack-Up

My time in Bindery has come and gone quickly. However, I think I'll be making a Bindery Come-Back later down the line to get a better grasp of some of the technical concepts, machine capabilities and job nuances etc. It might be helpful to do that after my Press and Shipping rotations, and possibly again after or alongside Production Planning.

I've spent the greater part of the past four weeks engaging with the physical side of Bindery, or what I playfully refer to as "cultivating an intimate relationship with the machinery". As an update from previous Bindery entries, I have gotten much better at fanning paper, and at keeping up with the folder. I do a decent job of driving the guillotine blade down on the 'old skool' cutter, too. CHHHHHHHHHHHHHOP!!! Mimi, who is truly a Bindery Super Woman, said "Bindery is good exercise!" I've been lifting a lot of paper, and stacking my muscles. I even lost a couple pounds. Overall, Bindery has been good to me.

I even made some amazing relationships along the way (not just with the machines, but with the people too). Anyway, back to business, because I always need to be wary of overextending my sentimentality in any situation. Here's some more cool lessons I learned, thanks to the respectable Printing Professors who taught them to me...

Professor Steve, Cutting 101:

• Lesson #1: HOW TO PROGRAM THE CUTTER - This is accomplished by pulling the approved integris (docket) and bindery rule-up (bindery rule-up drawer by the Heidelberg) and meticulously measuring trims (gutters, face and back trims, and other cuts necessary). Programming integrates critical measurements of the work, the trims, and the additional pushes and pulls of the back guage which help with (un-)loading.

• Lesson #2: SIDE GUIDE-GRIPPER TIME! - The side guide edge is indicated by press tags inserted in bindery-ready jobs. From my understanding, the implication of side guides to Bindery is that they are helpful in properly orienting the work for cutting and other finishing processes. In jobs that I saw Steve work with, he chose to make the first cut by registering the gripper edge to the back gauge first (making the first cut opposite the gripper edge), and the second cut by registering the side guide edge, before making any other cuts. These have to be the starting point for programming cuts because they are the critical reference points on press as well. In some cases, the side guide is ambiguous or shifted. The person cutting must verify the side guide before making any cuts, otherwise he could make a costly mistake.
  

• Lesson #3: TOOLS AND TRICKS - False clamp can be removed to create a 2.5 inch clearance which will accomodate different types of work (must take care to add slip sheets to absorb the imprints of the actual clamp, which can leave marks on the work). Book clamps help with saddle stitched pieces, which tend to be spongier, so that they compress and align for accurate trimming.

• Lesson #4: WEIGHING IN - So there's the scale used for shipping, a big platform I always make a point to step on en route to the lunch room, and theres a few others which help with counting paper. There's a mechanical jogging contraption (I don't know what it's called) that not only straightens large piles of paper, but it serves to weigh them, and, using an air compressor, remove any air between sheets. It is hooked up to a smaller scale, which asks for 25 sheets. This is a reference point. Let's say you want bundles of 500 for cutting. You first use the small scale to determine the weight of 25 sheets of paper, which you manually count out. And then you multiply by 20 to get the weight for your bundle. That way, no one's counting out 500 sheets of paper each time they go to the cutter. Pretty cool, man.
  

Professor Chuck & Professor Kevin, Machinery 101:

• Lesson #1: MULLER MARTINI MICKEY MOUSING - "Mickey Mousing" is Watermark slang for cheap, innovative engineering tactics used to manipulate machines into doing what is necessary for the job at hand. Take, for example, a recent job we did for Bare Escentuals, a tiny little Bare Minerals Foundation brochure, to be stitched, one up. I would say the piece was something like 3x3 in size, an 8-page signature (need to verify) on thicker stock, something the Muller Martini isn't used to stitching. Setting up a job on the Muller Martini requires an hour or so regardless, but by the time Chuck was done with it in 2+ hours, it had paper taped here and there to guide the pieces so they wouldn't veer, or spin on the belt, which not only causes misalignments, but jams the machine (no bueno!). The Watermark stitcher is truly a kinetic sculpture, with all sorts of fabulous Mickey Mouse imagineered attachments. In summation, setting up the Muller Martini takes into account the pockets for loading (size adjustments), the belt (speed, and separations between pieces), the placement of the stitching and sizing of the wire relative to the paper stock, the placement of the knives, and where the piece outputs on the belt for final trimming and/or stitching.

• Lesson #2: SETTING UP THE FOLDER - Setting up the Stahl Folders is done by removing the plates which are responsible for the buckle aspect of the buckle and fold concept of folding machines. Next, two cylinders are removed to change the scoring or perfing collars, the round wheels with male (scoring or perfing) and female (groove) counterparts. Different paper and different jobs warrant the use of different collars, and when I watched Chuck set up a job, he had to remove the perfing collar used on the last job. While brushing up on the Bindery section of the latest edition of Pocket Pal (thanks LDP team!), I was reminded that the scoring must be done on the backside of the fold, so it goes on the cylinders, top and bottom, accordingly. Once this is done, on a flat surface mind you, the cylinders are placed back on the machine tightly, and are further adjusted during make-ready. Next, we measure the work and divide that measurement in half so we can adjust the metal guide that facilitates loading: it operates best when the work is centered on the belts. The test run is made to wrap down, under the feeding drum (belts are tightened, if necessary), and to the air source. During set up, it is important to verify that the loading is done straight, and the work is not straying off course or running into the machine's parts. After that, various gears are tightened and other adjustments are made. Kevin showed me how the 1-2-3-4-5 knobs work: slips of paper are placed under them to indicate to the folder the thickness of the work at different stages of folding. It informs the tension, and again, mimics the job process. The next stage is a matter of attaching more folders for a greater number of signatures, making sure the paper runs its intended course (weighted balls and guides help), and doing test runs and adjustments to make sure that it outputs work with accurate scores/perfs. Voila!

Professor Larry Bilsky, Bindery 101:

• Lesson #1: BIG PICTURE BINDERY PROCESS FLOW-

1. Press tags signed and dated by Pressmen indicating that a job is ready for Finishing.
2. Retrieve instructions from Production Planning, as indicated on Bindery Schedule and Dockets.
3. Retrieve Integris Proof (usually enclosed in Docket), and S.A.O.K. (same as, ok) Bindery Rule-Up from the Bindery Rule-Up Drawer (stored by the Heidelberg).
4. Review Docket, especially Bindery page, and match up (check and verify) with the physical printed product. If item is to be cut in stages (i.e. cut with the intention of running it on a folder/Roll-Em etc. before cutting again), this is important to note.
5. Work goes through a unique process flow of cutting, scoring, folding, perfing, and/or stitching according to the unique demands of the job. Some are simple cut-only jobs. Others are very complex and take a lot of time.
6. Work is processed through handwork, finishing (shrink wrapping, bundling, kitting) and shipping and distribution (packaging, labeling) and fulfillment (on-floor stocking for the future, at the client's request). Generally, this is overseen by Mimi, and her fleet of temporary workers, in conjunction with Larry Minetti and Larry Bilsky, as well as the Production Planner in charge of the job.
7. Finished work goes to Minetti to ship out to clients.
   
8. Finished work Dockets get placed on the rack, and the Integris goes in a box for Flat Filing (done by Bob in Pre-Press).

• Lesson #2: PRESS MARKINGS AND TAGS -

1. Black Line - Spoilage, minor. See notes.
2. Blue Line - Samples
3. Red Line - Spoilage, major. Recycle!
   
4. Make-Ready Tags - Anything below that was from Press Make-Ready. To be used for Bindery make-ready.
5. Press Tags - Signed and dated by pressman when run is completed. Indicates side guide. Okay for Bindery/Finishing.

• Lesson #3: WET SCORING - Wet Scoring is a process used to facilitate the folding of heavier, uncoated stock, like we used for the cutest job I've ever seen (a Chronicle Books for Kids poster showcasing Little Oink, pictured above). Wet scoring is embedded in the scoring/folding machinery. It calls for a syringe attached to a supply of one part isopropyl alcohol, and ten parts water, which squirts out through the syringe onto the score after scoring. The isopropyl alcohol helps the paper to absorb the water faster, so by the time the work is folded, the fold is effortless. FUN FACT: Larry Bilsky helped invent one of the first devices for Wet Scoring, and employed a UC Berkeley research lab for 6 months while trying to develop wet scoring for coated sheets. While the effort for coated sheets ended in disappointment, Larry can still say that he pioneered the concept of Wet Scoring. Unfortunately, we purchased our Wet Scoring attachment from his competitor. Bilsky holds no hard feelings.

Larry and I also had some interesting discussions comparing small and large printing plant capabilities and the different needs that arise in Bindery because we are a small, commercial printer. This concludes my Bindery Wrap-Up and Reflection. A lot of questions are still unanswered, but I rest assured that I can re-visit them in the future:

• What determines the size of a lift on a cutter? What is a lift?
• How does a work and tumble, work and turn, or sheetwise form affect the way it is trimmed?
• Why would you perforate a folded signature on the spine?
• What is the number of normal 8.5x11 inch faces you can get on a 40" press
• How many folding unit attachments are needed for 4,8,16,32 page sigs?
• What are gate, double gate, roll, and cover wrap folds?
• Where do we have a drill? What determines the size of a lift on the drill?
• What is fan-apart glue and padding glue?
• What are the differences between the Baum folder, and the commonly used Stahl folder?
• If you have a 28-page book plus cover book on the saddle stitcher, how many stations are you feeding? How about a 30-page plus cover book?

Bindery Meditations

Best Practices (revisiting the FYI Weekend in Houston, Texas):

• humble aggressiveness
• open mindedness
• goal setting
• patience
• confidence
• fresh ideas
• stepping out of your comfort zone
• taking ownership
• learning through observation, as well as action
• creating opportunities
• setting expectations
• building print and business foundations
• "walking through walls" (persistence)
• earning respect
• putting in time
• becoming a go-to person
• thinking as if your plant is your own personal business (honoring the business)
• forming a career, rather than a job
• learning the right way to make mistakes
• adding value
• viewing economic challenges as an opportunity to build strength
• challenging the status quo
• digging deeper
• competing with yourself vs. constantly comparing to others
• honesty and integrity
• good intent, and even better resolve and follow-through
• being unafraid to fail
• embracing change
• avoiding negativity
• never doubting yourself
• staying balanced
• never thinking of yourself as bulletproof
• LOOKING FOR THE LESSON IN EVERYTHING...

My various motivational notes from First Year Initiative training remind me that it's not just my clock that should be springing forward (yes, yes, I know that was corny - I couldn't resist the Daylight Savings reference). Thankfully, I've already put some of this advice to the test during my first two weeks in bindery. For example:

Setting Expectations
I gave my Bindery Manager, Larry Bilsky, a copy of my Bindery Study Questions, all of which he promised to cover by the end of my rotation. I told him that I'm enjoying learning-by-doing, but that I'd also like to get oriented with work-flow and other big picture concepts.

Humble Aggressiveness
I ask questions whenever I see an opportunity to learn something new. If my unofficial Bindery Mentor, Chuck, has to stop the Muller Martini stitcher for any reason, whether to fix a small problem or to adjust the mechanics in anticipation of a new job, I quietly observe, and then ask for tutorials and clarification when appropriate. Being naturally inquisitive has helped me to loosely understand how Packing and Distribution works, and how temporary workers are employed in Bindery. I even asked where we load the staplers in the stitcher because I'd never seen anyone re-fill them. To my surprise, there was no mysterious, magical, never-ending supply of staples. Instead, there are large reels of wire!

Avoiding Negativity
The people in bindery are a lot of fun. On top of that they are truly committed to quality control, and they take this effort to a whole new level. Working alongside them, I've gotten past the initial perception that processes here are simply made up of easy, manual, repetitive tasks. One of the bindery guys, Kevin, jokes with me: "Easy money huh?!" While the tasks themselves seem simple enough, I quickly learned that you can't just take someone like me off of the street and ask her to load a Folder or stack folded sheets with Watermark Press' precision. Handling paper at a commercial printer is truly an acquired skill. I started my bindery rotation unloading the folder, taking bundles of folded sheets, straightening them up perfectly (or trying to, at least), checking for inconsistencies, rubber banding them, and stacking them high on a palette. I found myself in a game of Woman vs. Machine, an ongoing challenge that, according to Larry, often leaves me looking like Lucy and Ethel in this memorable "Chocolate Factory" episode of I Love Lucy:



As I engage in this playful race with the Bindery machines, I find the joy in the process of getting up to speed. I uncover more respect for the people who have mastered the Folder beast, who pry open the mouth of the Muller Martini and brave the act of switching the ominous blades, who fan out sheets better than a geisha in ancient Japan... And if you've ever marveled at the construction of the pyramids, that's just about how amazed I felt while learning the art of stacking paper on a palette. If you do it wrong, they'll tumble when you move them around, and this is a client's product we're talking about here, not a game of Jenga. However, I am, like I said, having a lot of fun - sometimes, I might as well be playing games. (The most fun of all is the Cutter: when I'm on a cutter, I like to imagine I'm in a fighter jet or motorcycle or something else young boys think are video-game worthy. Occasionally, I even incur Bindery Battle Wounds, which you recognize as "paper cuts".) Chuck, Kevin, and Steve (who usually operates the cutter) will randomly cheer outloud in Bindery. I tried long enough to figure out the cause for celebration before I just asked Chuck why they do it. "For fun," he said. "Or to re-energize. There's really no good explanation for it. We all do it now...I started it and pretty much got those other guys hooked on screaming WHOO HOOO!!! really, really loud." As you can imagine, it wasn't long before I joined in on the festivities too, just because.

Learning through Observation, as well as Action
I was loading the stitcher pockets for our Apple "One-to-One" brochure job when I learned about a caliper, the function of which is to measure the thickness of the brochure with the intention of moving along those which pass the measurement standard, and discarding those which don't pass into a tray. I noticed that when mistakes happen, and the machine discards a large amount of work into this tray, Chuck would take out those pieces and re-separate the individual pages so they could cycle back into the pockets. I took the initiative to do this myself once, and multitask by simultaneously loading pockets and separating the incomplete brochures from the tray, so I could load those too. In another instance, I unknowingly let a feeding error fill that tray before we stopped the machine and corrected the mistake. One of the pockets wasn't feeding, so after that, I was also able to listen in on the Muller Martini's subtle rhythms. Thanks to the machine's distinct rhythms, I've begun to recognize its wants, its needs: "more paper, less paper, straighter paper - feed me better!" I didn't think catching on to these things was a big deal, but Chuck told that I'm a quick learner who pays close attention.

I've found the value here in digging deeper, and being unafraid to fail. Speaking of which, I'm going to practice loading the folder this week. Hopefully, by the end of my rotation in bindery, my fanning skills will go from failure to fantastic...but we'll see.

LOOKING FOR THE LESSON IN EVERYTHING...because there's a reason for all these crazy rhythms...WHOO HOO!!! (Okay, maybe not that one so much.)

-H.

Pre-Press, In a Nutshell

After two-weeks spent synthesizing all the Pre-Press knowledge I had so-far acquired, I'm back on this blog to compare notes with my fellow Associates. I just completed my month-long Pre-Press rotation, and I've moved into the Bindery, where I've gotten a nice introduction to that department over the past week. I've just turned a page, and discovered a whole new chapter of the LDP at Watermark Press, complete with its own unique set of challenges.

There's definitely a lot I have to touch on after having spent my first week in Bindery, followed by a weekend in Houston for First Year Initiative (FYI) training. I'm eager to discuss my debut in both Bindery, and Texas, the original home of Consolidated Graphics. Stay tuned within the next couple of days. For now, here is my Pre-Press Presentation in bullet-point format:

Department:

• Jim Jordan – Pre-Press Manager
• Chris Tucker – Electronic Pre-Press and Color Specialist
• Tim Lindner – Electronic Pre-Press and Electronic Archiving
• Oscar Canada & Bob Gardner – Proof-Out
  
• Oscar – Digital/Konica Specialist
• Bob – Chemical Usage Reporter, and File Archiving

Previewing: quick check that what's on the files (colors, pages) matches the docket specs

Pre-Flighting: checking to see if a job has all the elements needed to start E-prep

• Blueprint: a clearly defined layout, assigned by the planning department
• Native Files: plus electronic assembly in compatible file formats/programs
• Visual Reference Points: color lasers, B&W with clear labels, folding dummy
• Any job unapproved during pre-flight is put on hold. Sales/Planning to help obtain all missing components, and clarify unclear directions/information.
• Note: PDFs are horrible for proofing because they often make it difficult to isolate changes/edits. A newly acquired program, Pitstop, helps edit PDFs.

Programs:

• File Management: User Fonts Folder, Jobs Volume
• Job Management: Prinergy Workshop, Prinergy
• Design: Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator
• Page Layout: Preps, Indesign and Quark Xpress
• Page Layout Scripts (unique to Watermark Press): Take Off Ehh, Marks of the Beast

Pre-Press Work Flow: Kodak Work Flow Model

· Planners (Rob, Maureen, Steve, and Krystine) place a new docket on the E-Prep rack, with priority jobs on the top of the rack.

· E-Prep to pre-flight the docket and check to make sure all specifications are clear and all the files, lasers, and other visuals stated in the docket are present.

· Questions and concerns are addressed to planner overseeing the job.

· Ok-Go! Start job hours by logging into PSI.

· File Management: preservation of originals, and organization are key

· Quark, Photoshop, Illustrator, In Design, and Preps are used to edit and otherwise prepare the clients' native files for initial proofing.

· While preparing the job, E-prep is also foreseeing any problems before they emerge on the press, things like color assignment, ink density, creep, etc.

· Save files to Post Script (EPS), and move them into Prinergy Workshop in order to get them organized for proofing, starting with a virtual proof, or VPS.

· Use Prinergy to output PDF versions of the job to our various pre-press proofing devices: the Integris, the Ink Jet, and the Trendsetter (Oscar/Bob).

· A signed checklist is used to review proofs before they proceed to Proof-Out.

· Oscar or Bob to cut/trim proofs and create finished versions of the proofs: saddle-stitched booklets, folded brochures, mock-ups of boxes. Label proof with job number, quantity, and date.

· Jim to review proofs with a 2^nd checklist before sending proofs to clients.

· Proofs come back with corrections or Change-Orders to the E-prep rack for re-proofing. Exclusive color changes are put on the Color Correction rack.

· Plating usually conducted by Oscar.

· Press runs and Make-Ready. Pre-press to Rule-Out/Up press sheets.

Proofing: generally one for content, and one for color is required

· Integris – affordable, content proofs, not accurate for color

· Ink Jet – better quality when compared to Integris, better for color

· Spectrum proofs – high quality, best resembles the press, uses colored film

· Digital jobs – Oscar outputs a digital proof and checks for size, alignment and back-up, and for jobs with a color reference point, color matching. Clients approve or correct the proof, and Oscar adjusts the specifications during re-proofing, and ultimately, the actual digital press run. Sometimes, proofs are re-directed to E-prep for special case change orders.

*All proofs must be labeled with the date, job quantity, and job number.

Trapping: two adjacent colors meet and butt to each other, so there is a slight, accurate overlap. Trapping helps avoid white gaps in the event of misregistration.

Imposition: a culmination of many things, primarily orientation, pagination, content, trims, bleeds, and overall layout/production (work and turn, flat work, work and tumble)

Screen vs. Printer Font:

• Screen fonts are mere pictures of how the font is actually encoded for printing, and can look very different from fonts outputted by printing devices (DPI output is different from, say, an Illustrator file, and even between different machines.)
• Clear directions need to be sent to the printers so that the font imaging doesn’t get lost in translation.
• Clients should provide fonts because we may not have the fonts they used in our system. “User Fonts” is a program/folder which is programmed to work exclusively with the fonts we put there, and we clear the folder and upload fonts with each new job.

Line Screen: lines per inch (LPI), we typically use 175, 200 LPI here at Watermark

DPI: dots per inch

Dot Gain: where the LPI shows overages of specified DPI densities in certain areas. For example, ink density can show a 3% gain on one area of the page, which may not dry in time and bleed onto the next press sheet. Dot gain can be caused by uncoated paper.

Half Tone Dot Angle: colors exist at a particular screen angle to avoid interference and moiré, CYAN 105 deg., MAGENTA 75 deg., YELLOW 90 deg., and BLACK 45 deg.

EPS: encapsulated post-script

· “a language for driving raster-based output devices, producing typefaces as vector-based outlines”, interpreter for computer data, coded for printout device

• Vector graphics
• Generally outputted by Illustrator, and treated in Photoshop or In Design
• Easily edited, colors easily separated

TIFF: tagged image file format

• Reliable, standard graphics format, can’t store object-oriented things

• Bitmapped/Rasterized: non-scalable pixel maps, different for different font sizes, real-world analog to a mosaic made from tiny colored pixels

RIP: raster image processor, organizes font data, and creates the page bit map

RGB and CMYK Color Theory:

• RGB (red, green, and blue) color theory refers to the three bands of additive color recognized by the human eye. They add together to form white light.
• CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) refer to subtractive colors. Cyan occurs when red is subtracted from white light, leaving a composite of green and blue. Magenta is made up of red-blue. Yellow is red-green. Black makes greys. (White is the absence of black/color - binary 0.)

Emulsion: chemicals for plating, the blue coating on a plate, heat/light/pressure sensitive

Suggestions and Other Pre-Prep Issues:

• Proof-Out Dockets are currently flagged when we aren’t sure if the job is for the Heidelberg or the Komori. EMPLOY A SIMILAR PROCESS FOR PRE-PREP DEADLINES. FLAG WITH COLORED CLIPS OR POST-ITS DESIGNATING “hot”, “warm”, “luke-warm”, OR BETTER YET TIMES: 12pm, 2pm, 4pm etc.

• Jim is adamant about getting the Inkjet proofs to be more accurate in color-proofing, in order to cut the very expensive costs of spectrum proofing.
• Streamline work flow and improve communication lines between departments with better information sharing, and clear client specifications via sales. Suggestion: create a better checklist for sales people, so they can double-triple check file completion and special instructions, for example, BEFORE planning and pre-press.
  

Back in the Day, Back in the Day...

This week I heard more cool stories -

Stories like, "I remember way back when..."

Pre-Press was a laborious process:

...where every single image was given individual attention.
...where every color had a piece of film.
...and we cut, copied, and pasted things onto a production board.
...and we were many: film strippers and camera men, platers, and more.

But now, what would have taken 3-10 hours and many more employees using conventional Pre-Press to accomplish, digital can do in just 1 hour with fewer workers. Here is the flow of digital pre-press at Watermark Press:

We use Quark, Photoshop, Illustrator, In Design, and Preps to prepare the clients' native files: all the fonts, and all the images, culminating in a specified design layout, and ultimately, the layout in which we will print the work in larger quantities.

The Preps program assists in assigning this press layout, whether it is Sheetwise, Work and Turn, or Work and Tumble (which I will describe in greater detail during my Press rotation). Using Preps, we go through processes of laying out page size, gutters, bleeds, orientation, trim marks, pagination, die lines, and visual tools for quality control such as color bars, step wedges and take-off bars. Tim has appropriately named some helpful programs "Marks of the Beast" and "Take Off Ehh!!!" to assist with marks and colorizing take-off bars.

Basically, we are making the files that we receive more compatible with our technologies here. We are also foreseeing any problems before they emerge on the press, and making sure the press run is as efficient as possible. So much of pre-press is being a detective, and knowing how to speak to our various machines.

The language spoken by most modern day printing technology is Post Script. Post Script acts as a translator for the aforementioned programs, translating, for example, an In Design file into a Page Description Language (PDL) that printers can understand. That language is made up of directions regarding all the imposition assignments we gave. We save our files in Post Script, move them into Prinergy Workshop in order to get them all lined-up and ready for Prinergy, which outputs them into our various pre-press proofing devices: the Integris, the Ink Jet, and the Trendsetter (used for higher quality Spectrum proofs, and also for making plates.)

In addition to reviewing the overall pre-press process flow with Tim, Jim helped me revisit the concepts of line screen, and half-tone dots of ink, where each ink color is assigned a standard dot angle, thus eliminating interference, a printing no-no called moiré. I learned how to check for line screen, and how to tell the difference between Stochastic and AM screening. Stochastic is made up of equal size dots with variable spacing, producing the effect of higher or lower ink density. AM, or Amplitude Modulated screening varies the dot size with equal spacing between the dots, also affecting the perception of the ink's density.

If my learning process here resembled a line screen, I would have to call it stochastic. I come into bits of knowledge so frequently and so randomly, but everything, however small, is equally relevant and important. The more I come into knowledge, the more deep and vibrant the colors become: the more competent and confident I can hope to feel in due time. After all, it's all the half-tones, collectively, that make up the whole picture. And I'm just in the pre-pre-press stages of a career in print, trying to design something I can really be proud of.

And "pictures are not passive", according to Jim's 1998 copy of the Warren Standard's "How to Read a Press Sheet." Printing, instead, is a "process that demands reading images diligently and learning to communicate so that others can see the same things."

On that note, my career will require all the labor, editing, and effort of the printing industry back in the day... It will take many hours, and many diligent, print-savvy minds to communicate to me the understanding of print, past and present, that I'm seeking today.

And I hope that's okay.

The Print Industry in Today's Digital Landscape

Week two came and went, and my study of Pre-Press continues.

Of particular interest to me throughout the week has been the past and the present of the printing industry, particularly the pre-press process, prior to and throughout the digital and internet revolution.

Oscar, who runs the digital press, and the entire Pre-Press Department (Jim, Tim, and Chris) were really instrumental in my investigations of printing's laborious former processes, including hours and hours of cutting film, as well as the leading digital programs of today's pre-press repertoire. I shadowed Tim most of the week since he is a natural teacher and even got to sit in front of the Mac to prep and edit a few jobs using Workshop, Preps, Prinergy, Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop, and In Design. I helped by loading the Integris, which outputs preliminary print proofs.

Tom Sheffield, a leader in the Sales Department, was employing an exacto to cut a dummy (a mock-up of a particular job, which, in this case, was a folder) when he helped inspire my mini research project."This is what's been missing in the printing industry of today," he told me. "Because everything's so digital, we lose some of this hands on approach."

However, from my keen observations, this hands on approach still thrives here at Watermark Press. I see it with the meticulousness that pervades every department, in the proofing and re-proofing, in the quality control that matches the ink colors just right...There is no doubt that these employees take great pride in the pursuit of printing perfection.

Many of the long-standing employees here have been in the industry for twenty or thirty years. Through experience, these veterans of print have cultivated various ways of accomplishing the same task. They have archived in their minds all the trouble shooting they've pushed through, insisting that (as Jim says), "Doing print right is about making mistakes, and then learning from those mistakes. That's the only way to learn: doing things wrong once or twice or thrice before you get it right."

Oscar shed some light on this too, reflecting on his 19 year career with Watermark and his, quite literally, lifelong career in print. He shared his view that there's a real difference, between learning through experience and interaction with the craft, and a one-way, absolute way of thinking. The latter, I've seen, is how computers, the machines themselves work. This printer has a higher resolution than the other one. This program can do this, but not that. It takes skilled professionals, like the ones we have here in Pre-Prep, and years of experience to make the magic happen. Computers can only do so much on their own.

That being said, here's something to stew on regarding technology as we know it today, and how we may very well come to know it in the future...It is moving and shaping our global society and our professional landscapes at exponential rates.



In other news, I have had my first encounters with the "zen" of working in print. As Tom suggested to me, I have a journey ahead which will enable me to explore that further. He advised me to enjoy myself, to make friends with my colleagues, and to embrace the experience, even if I am entering the printing industry at a tough time economically in a rapidly evolving communications market. I'm ready now to make mistakes, and learn through direct experience and context. Challenges will continue to present themselves, and I am hopeful about rising to meet them.